JOHN LEVI WALTZ

MARRIAGE

A front-page feature article entitled “Medina Couple Near 62d Wedding Anniversary” published in the Medina Sentinel, December 21, 1922, provided some details about John Levi Waltz and Catherine E. Waltz, of which a few excerpts appear below.

“Saturday of next week, Dec. 30, will be a red-letter day in the lives of a well-known Medina couple, as it will mark the 62nd anniversary of their marriage. . . .It was on Dec. 30, 1860, that John L. Waltz and Eva C. Waltz accepted each other ‘for better or worse,’ in Lafayette township, this county, the ceremony being performed by Rev. N. L. Lewis, a prominent minister of that time, but long since departed. The bride with her parents had come from Allegany county (now Garrett), Md., several years before and settle in Lafayette, while John, a resident of the same county in Maryland, followed in 1859. And notwithstanding that Mr. and Mrs. Waltz are cousins and bore the same surname before their marriage, they never met until the former’s arrival in Lafayette, says Mr. Waltz . . . Mr. Waltz was born June 18, 1835, and Mrs. Waltz was born December 26, 1832, their ages being respectively 85 and 89 years . . . Mr. and Mrs. Waltz were blessed by five children, only one of whom is living – Mrs. Kittie May Blanot of Medina.”

COMMENT - It is interesting to note from the article that even though they were cousins, they did not meet until John arrived in Lafayette in 1859. In fact, they were "double first cousins" as a result of Hauser siblings marrying Waltz siblings. John's mother Mary Hauser (1805-1891) and Catherine Eva's mother Catherine Yantz Hauser (1803-1875) were sisters, daughters of Adam Hauser (1768-1851)and Sivilla Yantz (1774-1846). John's father William Waltz (1796-1887) and Catherine Eva's father George Rinehart Waltz (1799-1851) were brothers. A third Waltz sibling married a Hauser sibling: Elizabeth Waltz (1792-1880 - sister of William and George R.) married Ezra Hauser (1795-1873 - brother of Mary and Catherine Y. Hauser. As a result of these Waltz and Hauser siblings marrying, thier children are double first cousins who share both sets of grandparents, and are as genetically related as half-siblings (double cousins share around 1/4, or 25% of DNA — just like half-siblings). Ronn Friend

OBITUARY

ANOTHER VETERAN OF 1861 DEPARTS - John Levi Waltz Passes to His Eternal Reward at 89
WELL KNOWN AND HONORED CITIZEN - Had Led Active Life Until Amputation of Limb Several Months Ago
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John Levi Waltz, one of the village’s oldest citizens, a veteran of the Civil War, and a man who enjoyed the respect of his fellows, passed into eternity on Wednesday evening of last week at the home of his daughter, Mrs. R. W. Blanot, 522 South Broadway, with whom he had made his home since last summer, when blood poisoning necessitated the amputation of ne of his legs. Previous to that time he had been in remarkably good health, of which he was justly boastful, and which led him to jestifly affirm that he expected to round out an even hundred years of life, at least.

Mr. Waltz was the son of William and Mary Waltz, born in Allegany county, Md. June 18, 1835. Thus he was in his 90th year when summoned. He came to Ohio in early manhood, and on Dec. 30, 1860, was united in marriage to Catherine E. Waltz. To this union were born five children, three daughters and two sons, only one of whom, Mrs.. Blanot, survive. The wife and mother passed away about a year ago. He leaves besides the daughter, one brother and one sister in Maryland, also two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.

The army career of this veteran was a long and stormy one, covering a period from Sept. 22, 1861, when he enlisted in Co. B, 42d O V.I., to the time of his honorable discharge from service, Sept. 30, 1864. He was a member of the local G.A.R. Post in which he was active until the physical misfortune that overtook him a few months ago.

Funeral services were held at the church in Northeast Lafayette on Saturday afternoon at 2 o’clock, following a brief service at the Blanot home an hour earlier, conducted by Rev. C.W. Birney. (Published in the Medina Sentinel, Medina, Ohio, January 1, 1925; Transcribed by Ronn E. Friend, 3rd great nephew. NOTE: A folded yellowed copy of this obituary was found among the Waltz and Hauser family Bibles, albums, papers, and memorabilia passed through the family from Eva Marion (Waltz) Arnold (John Levi’s Waltz sister – mentioned in the obituary as the surviving sister), to her daughter Edna (Arnold) Whorton; from Edna to her daughter Winona M. (Whorton) Loraw; from Winona to her niece Susan Edna (Whorton) Friend and then to Susan’s son Ronn E. Friend.)